SF at the Movies - September '13

At the very last day let's see what movies were out in the cinemas this month.

Riddick

And that's all I can see I'm afraid - but we've got some crackers coming up soon!!

Blogga's Wall - June-July '13

Wow it's been a long time since I did one of these, and the last one was a catchup too! Anyway here's what I was into over the summer break.

1) Man of Steel

I really enjoyed the Superman reboot. Not having read any Superman comics I didn't have any hangups going in and I thought the artifical birth/ trying to create Krypton on Earth was a good valid reason for Zod to fight Superman rather than simply wanting to conquer. The fights were suitably epic and the story held together well.

2) Gone

 

A teen Sci-Fi series, I was attracted by the plot of all adults (in fact everyone over 15) disappearing, which reminded me of The Tribe TV series, but the book stands on it's own. Some of the kids develop superpowers, some of the animals mutate and something worse is hidden in the darkness, not to mention the struggle for control. A force field traps all the kids in, similar to Under the Dome, but Stephen King endorses these books so I don't think the similarity is a problem for him!!

Star Wars: Dark Times - Fire Carrier

The latest arc of Dark Times follows K'Kruhk and the group of Padawans and younglings he has been trying to hide from the Empire. After being stranded on a remote moon and giving in to his savage nature to defend the Padawans from pirates the Jedi master now leads his weary group to a refugee camp, only to find more peril awaits them!!

New Jedi

Genel 

Species: Duros
Sex: Male
Occupation: Jedi Youngling






One of the large group of Jedi younglings accompanying K'Kruhk on his journey this is the first time he is named.

Zao

Species: Veknoid
Sex: Male
Occupation: Jedi Master








OK, he's not a new character, having been a stalwart of the Republic comic series, but he's new to me!! Zao escaped Order 66 by virtue of the fact that he did not take part in the Clone Wars as a Jedi General and therefore easily blended in to the mass of refugees until the force brought him to K'Kruhk.

Sidirri

Species: Human
Sex: Female
Occupation: Jedi Youngling








Sidirri was one of the younglings under K'Kruhk's care, however she had been deeply affected by the events that had occured since Order 66 and a distant member of the group of Jedi. Troubled what happened on Arkinnea she left the Jedi, with Zao following to try and help, and never returned

New Vehicles

Ore Carrier

This vessel was used for planet-wide delivery of ore for processing, but was adapted by the Arkinnean militia for transporting refugees out of the crowded refugee camp.

Militia Patrol Vessel

 






This craft was used by the militia to patrol the planet and conduct operations, it could carry a complement of militia soldiers, touching down quickly and returning to the skies to patrol for enemies.

New Species

Yunu

A primitive race with simple tool-building skills, these natives had interacted with ancient Jedi who had built a temple on their world and when K'Kruhk and Zao demonstrated the use of the force and their lightsabers they chose to ally with his group, remembering what the Jedi had done for them in the past and they aided the fledgling Jedi group establish a home on their world.

New Planets

Arkinnea

 (I don't have co-ordinates for this planet as it's new, so no map for this post I'm afraid!)

Arkinnea was a remote planet in Expansion Region, which K'Kruhk sought as a potential place for his younglings to rebuild their lives. However Arkinnea was overrun with refugees for both sides of the conflict and became a boiling pot of tensions controlled by Imperials with a local militia running operations on the ground.

A long time in the past Arkinnea had been home to a Jedi Outpost and the native species recognized the Jedi. 







Story

K'Kruhk brings his younglings to Arkinnea in the hope of terutrning them to normality and a civilized life, but instead finds a refugee camp run by Imperials and resentful militia men. In the camp they find Master Zao, who was led to them by the force and who has sensed danger in the camp and leads them out again to the wilds. While searching for a new home they discover the nature of the danger - the militia are dealing with the refugees by carrying them in an ore carrier then dropping them to their deaths. K'kruhk puts a stop to their plan, but draws the attention of the militia and also the local Imperial officer. They have a standoff with the local natives and the militia, but Sidirri, affected by what she has seen, strikes out with the force in anger and ends the conflict. The Imperial officer brings justice to the militia, then catches up with K'kruhk, revealing that he still believes in the Jedi and sends aid when he can, allowing the Jedi to build a new life on a remote part of the planet.
          Meanwhile on Coruscant, Darth Vader continues to train the bounty hunter Falco Sang to hunt down Jedi for him.

Next up: Blogga's Wall

SF at the Movies - August 2013

Wow! July just came and went, but with the arrival of the summer holidays normal service has been suspended, though I hope to resume more regular posting over the next few weeks if the return to work allows time for it!!

Anyway, at the very last minute but here's what is up on silver screens this month

Kick-Ass 2 (not strictly SF, but superhero comic-book adaptations qualify I think!)

Elysium

And that's your lot! Sorry again for missing July out!!

Halo 4: Requiem + Forerunner

OK so finally continuing with my progress in Halo 4, I have now completed all Spartan Ops chapters so have 'fully' completed the game. I've been meaning to continue posting for a while, but what with E3 the blog has been somewhat saturated with Halo content recently so I thought I'd give this post a bit of breathing room.

As in the title this post covers the second and third playable missions of the game.

Requiem

After the planet opens following the mysterious scan the wreckage of Forward Unto Dawn is sucked into the void along with several of the Storm Covenant fleet unlucky enough to be in it's gravitational field. John fails to reach an escape pod in time and falls through the portal into the planet's interior. Requiem is a Dyson Sphere with an hollow core and a planetary surface on the inside of the crust.

New Enemies

Sangheili Zealot

OK so not a new type at all, but the redesign of the Zealot, especially with the 'eyes' on top of the helmet is pretty darn cool!!

New Weapons

SAW

 







AKA M739 Light Machine Gun this is a nifty new addition to the UNSC's arsenal a drum-magazine fe machine gun with a rapid fire-rate and a huge ammo reserve capable of taking down powerful enemies with sustained fire.

Shade Turret

The Typew-55 Anti-Infantry Stationary Gun is the lastest incarnation of the Covenant turrets seen throughout the Halo series.

Story

After recovering from their fall Chief and Cortana battle their way through the wreckage of several ships to try and find a Cartographer to explain where they are and if there is another way off the planet. Cortana tells Chief that she is nearing Rampancy, having been in service far longer than the expected 7 years of an AI. Chief plans to steal a ship and get back to Dr. Halsey who may be able to help Cortana. As they explore the Forerunner structures they find a reference to 'reclaimers' following the information they deduce that UNSC 'Infinity' has also found Requiem. Thye try to track down it's signal but are suddenly attacked by strange beings.

Forerunner

Chief jumps into a portal opened by Cortana and resumes his search for Infinity and a way off the planet.

New Enemies

Promethean Knight

 










Seemingly powerful Forerunner AI constructs similar to Sentinels, they have a far darker history to be revealed. They carry powerful weapons and have the ability to teleport at will and deploy Watchers from their backs for defense and support. They are dangerous alone and deadly in a group.

Promethan Crawler

Dog-like Forerunner AIs these foes carry Forerunner weaponry in their 'mouths' and are capable of scaling walls and leaping to great heights to swarm a foe from all sides. They always deploy in packs using different tactics to wear down an enemy.

Promethean Watcher

Flying Forerunner AIs these enemies can swarm an opponent but typically they are deployed to support Knights, with Knights able to carry them within their armour. As support they are most deadly, able to project hard light shields over Knights, catch and return thrown grenades and even resurrect fallen Knights.

New Weapons

Pulse Grenade

 






I wasn't overly impressed with these weapons, sticky grenades and even frags are more effective weapons, while the pulse it emits is deadly it isn't too hard to avoid, even when launched from Promethean weapons. The grenade emits a powerful area of effect which weakens enemies and then detonates, sometimes incinerating it's victims.

Boltshot

This weapon is typically carried by Watchers and sometimes by Crawlers, in human hands it can function as a rapid-fire pistol, shooting bolts of hard-light (the standard Promethean amunition) at an enemy. It is a multifunction weapon and can also fire a spread of bolts in one, creating a shotgun effect.

Suppressor

This weapon is typically carried by Crawlers and sometimes by Knights. It is essentially an Assault Rifle with a large clip and a rapid rate of fire. It's pretty cool how Forerunner weapons assemble themselves out of components in your hand as you pick them up.

Lightrifle

A long range weapon carried by Knights, able to fire bolts in a three shot spread or, when focused, a single more powerful bolt of hard light, functioning as a mix of the UNSC's DMR and Battle Rifle.

There were other Forerunner weapons in this level, but I'll save them for a later post.

Story

Master Chief  and Cortana venture deeper into the planet Requiem, making brief contact with the UNSC Infinity. All along they are forced to battle the Promethean forces that have designated them a threat and Storm forces that have followed them through. Cortana directs the Chief to a set of pylons which appear to be able to establish firm contact with the UNSC vessel, which they need to do urgently as the vessel risks being puled into the portal they fell through. Chief makes it to the terminal in time - but it is not what he expected...

More Halo  soon!!

Doctor Who - New series, new species part 43

Yes it's about time to look back at the latest series of Doctor Who and the new aliens that appear in the series - to be fair there are a lot of 'sort-of' species in this post, creatures that technically aren't really new aliens at all but are worth mentioning nonetheless

Time Zombies

 I didn't know quite what to make of these creatures, they added a good deal of menace to what weoul otherwise have been a load of random exploring...but then again I'd have been happy with just random exploring!!

These creatures, roaming the core of the TARDIS, a result of the Doctor and his companions being exposed directly to the eye of Harmony. Thankfully the Doctor was able to change the course of events so that these creatures ceased to exist.

Red Leeches

 A quirky little alien in a nice episode starting with the Companions helping Clara and the Doctor and then taking the fight back to the enemy. I have to say the little leech was a nice mix of cute and evil and a nice take on a species type - don't think we've had a small wormy thing for a while on Who!

An ancient race, known as a menace to the Silurtians when they populated the Earth. They produced a venom which could cause horrific changes and death in conact with most humans but could also have a symbiotic and beneficial relationship with a chosen host body. One surviving member of the race, conspired with a corrupt human, Mrs. Gillyflower to take over the human race.

Cybermites

Another new Cyber-thingy, but I thought these little creatures were effective and better than last series' rebooted Cybermat with it's snappy teeth, these creatures were actually a threat. It was nice to see the actual Cybermen being more powerful and threatening than they have been in the past.

A weapon of the Cybermen, Cybermites were part of their arsenal in their longstanding war agains humanity. Cybermites could latch onto an organic host and begin the process of converting them into a Cyberman. They weren't able to convert a host by themselves but could turn a being into an agent for them and certainly incapacitate foes if they got close enough. They were also able to turn the Doctor into 'Mr Clever' and alter ego with some of the Doctor's personality and knowledge and yet fully serving the Cybermen.

Whisper Men

 







Another vague non-race designed to add some threat, these 'whisper men' were actually manifestations of the Great Intelligence and did not corporeally exist at all, though they could interact with the world, they were used by the Intelligence to threaten the Doctor's friends to make him open up his tomb on Trenzalore.

That's your lot - more after the Anniversary Special!!

SF at the Movies - June '13

Back to normal - thios one's late, but only just - here;s what went up on the silver screen in June.

After Earth

Man of Steel

World War Z

Despicable Me 2

More than the usual handful!!

Next Up: Doctor Who!!